easing

OpenAI's programming agent Codex and office agent ChatGPT Work have a combined weekly active user count of 10 million. Just 9 days ago, it was 6 million. OpenAI subsequently reset the usage limits for paid users of both products.In March of this year, Codex had only 2 million weekly active users, and now the combined total for both products has expanded to 5 times.OpenAI had previously promised that for every additional 1 million users from 3 million to 10 million, the usage limits would be reset. This is the final milestone of this commitment.

On July 17, Interlace and BlockSec jointly held the summit "The Next Decade of Payments: Digital Currency, AI Agents, and the New Global Financial Order." The event brought together industry guests from AI, Web3, security, and payments to discuss the development trends of stablecoin payments, security compliance, AI agents, and global payment infrastructure.BlockSec co-founder Zhou Yajin and Interlace founder and CEO Michael Wu delivered keynote speeches on "Security and Compliance in Crypto Payments" and "Agentic Payment and the New Infrastructure of Global Finance," respectively, sharing their latest observations on the development trends of digital asset payments. As the scenarios for stablecoin payments continue to expand, the security compliance system and the construction of a new generation of payment infrastructure are becoming key supports for driving industry development. In the future, payment infrastructure will not only serve the function of capital flow but will also further evolve into a programmable, trusted, and verifiable value transfer system, providing underlying support for the connection between digital assets and real-world commerce.At the event, Interlace also officially released the white paper "The Value Transmission Layer of the AI Economy: From Concept to Implementation." The white paper was jointly initiated with ecosystem partners such as Bitget, BlockSec, Cobo, Conflux, Stable, Xagent, and Hetu, systematically defining the architecture, standards, and implementation paths of Agentic Payment infrastructure, providing a reference for value transfer in the era of the AI economy.

According to Cointelegraph, ARK Invest's research director Lorenzo Valente published a rebuttal to a16z crypto's view that "traditional finance will adopt blockchain rather than DeFi," arguing that institutions will increasingly rely on DeFi infrastructure in the future.Valente stated that public chains are leading private chain projects in actual development, with the growth of tokenized assets on open networks like Ethereum as an example. He also believes that crypto-native companies like Circle and Coinbase are better positioned than traditional financial institutions to build the next generation of financial infrastructure.a16z crypto previously stated that banks and asset management institutions would not directly adopt DeFi but would choose blockchain technologies that comply with existing regulatory, governance, and operational requirements, including features like tokenization and atomic settlement, while continuing to maintain licensing and institutional control.Sentora co-founder Jesus Rodriguez also disagreed with a16z's viewpoint, suggesting that institutions might adopt the underlying infrastructure of DeFi and overlay compliance, custody, and other enterprise-level controls on top of it.

Strategy MSTR CEO Phong Le stated that the plan is to bring STRC back to par value and restore Bitcoin holdings. Strategy will continue to increase its dollar reserves, as this has a dilutive effect on its per-share Bitcoin.Phong Le also mentioned that retaining 2 to 3 years of dividends in dollar reserves is an important part of its capital plan, in order to issue more preferred shares in the future.

According to on-chain analyst Darkfost (@Darkfost_Coc), the current proportion of loss UTXOs in the Bitcoin market continues to expand, with the loss/profit UTXO ratio rising to an extreme range, a level that has historically only appeared during deep pressure periods of bear markets.Darkfost pointed out that this indicator measures market sentiment by calculating the ratio of profit and loss UTXOs, unaffected by the absolute value distortion of BTC prices, and has strong historical consistency. The current reading shows significant pressure from holding losses, which has certain accumulation value from a long-term perspective; however, caution is needed when market sentiment shifts, as the rapid increase in the number of profit UTXOs could sharply drive up the ratio, which may signal a potential local top.

According to Jinshi reports, analyst Matthew Weller stated that the overall monthly inflation rate is expected to record negative growth for the first time in over a year, which will alleviate market concerns about the Federal Reserve's imminent interest rate hike.The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz has led to a significant drop in energy prices, while the impact of Trump's tariffs has largely been absorbed by the market. The federal funds futures market is currently pricing in a 35% probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at this month's meeting.

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, the ETH/BTC exchange rate has recently rebounded from 0.02524 to 0.02855. A certain whale specializing in ETH/BTC exchange trading exchanged 13,708 ETH for 393.4 BTC half an hour ago, worth 25 million USD, shorting the ETH/BTC exchange rate, with a transaction rate of 0.02855.This whale is a coin-based trader; if the exchange rate falls, they can exchange back for more ETH. Over the past six months, through multiple exchange rate trades, they have increased their coin-based holdings by 6,475 ETH, worth 11.78 million USD.

MINIMAX (00100.HK) announced that it will raise approximately HKD 16.041 billion through the placement of new shares and the issuance of zero-coupon convertible bonds. According to the announcement, the company will place 35.6 million new Class A shares at HKD 268 per share (approximately a 9.89% discount to the closing price of the previous trading day), expecting to raise about HKD 9.541 billion; at the same time, it plans to issue zero-coupon secured convertible bonds with a total principal amount of HKD 6.5 billion due in 2027, with an initial conversion price of HKD 335 per share (approximately a 12.64% premium to the closing price). Morgan Stanley and UBS are acting as arrangers for this transaction, and the placement and bond issuance are independent of each other and not conditional upon one another. If all the bonds are ultimately converted into shares, the two transactions will add up to approximately 55 million shares, accounting for nearly 15% of the company's expanded total share capital. Regarding the use of funds, MINIMAX stated that about 80% of the net proceeds are intended to strengthen AI infrastructure and model development, 10% to accelerate the global commercialization of products, and the remaining 10% for working capital and general corporate purposes.

According to news from the People's Bank of China on July 8, the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee held its 113th regular meeting for the second quarter of 2026 on July 4. The meeting pointed out that since the beginning of this year, monetary policy has remained moderately accommodative, the cost of social financing is at a historically low level, and the supply and demand in the foreign exchange market are basically balanced. In the face of the current complex and changing external environment, as well as domestic challenges such as strong supply and weak demand and structural differentiation, the overall operation of our economy is stable and moving towards improvement.The meeting emphasized that in the next stage, it will continue to implement a moderately accommodative monetary policy, increase counter-cyclical and cross-cyclical adjustments, strengthen the coordination of monetary and fiscal policies, and promote stable economic growth and a reasonable rebound in prices. At the same time, the meeting clearly stated the need to maintain ample liquidity and promote the low-level operation of comprehensive social financing costs; assess the operation of the bond market from a macro-prudential perspective, and pay attention to changes in long-term yields; maintain basic stability of the RMB exchange rate at a reasonable and balanced level. In addition, the central bank will continue to optimize various structural monetary policy tools, solidly implement the "five major tasks" of finance, and increase financial support for key areas such as expanding domestic demand, technological innovation, small and micro enterprises, and the private economy.

According to BBX data, yesterday marked a milestone for the global largest IPO completion index, with a historic turning point in the valuation logic of AI transformation in mining companies. The core dynamics are as follows:SpaceX, Inc. (NASDAQ: $SPCX) reported on July 7 that the company was officially included in the Nasdaq 100 index this week, becoming the first in history to have the largest single IPO ($75 billion) included in the Nasdaq 100. CoinDesk also issued a historic warning: "The last two largest new constituents added—Palantir ($PLTR) in December 2024 and Strategy ($MSTR) in early 2025—both experienced a phase decline after inclusion, rather than starting a new round of increases"; analysts pointed out that passive funds tracking the Nasdaq 100 complete "forced buying" at the time of inclusion, and if there are no new fundamental catalysts afterward, stock prices often pull back after technical buying subsides. Specific risks currently facing SpaceX include: a net loss of approximately $4.27 billion in Q1 2026 (mainly due to xAI integration expenses), a $2 billion bond issuance plan, and a 3.4% equity dilution from the $60 billion acquisition of Cursor/Anysphere; Morningstar maintains a fair value estimate of $62 per share, indicating about a 70% implied downside from the current market price. For the market holding SpaceX Bitcoin (18,712 coins, approximately $1.2 billion, held in Coinbase Prime), the inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 will trigger a larger scale of SPCX holdings by passive funds, further bridging the gap between traditional index investors and indirect exposure to Bitcoin assets.TeraWulf Inc. (NASDAQ: $WULF) according to the latest analysis, the company's high-performance computing (HPC) leasing revenue in Q1 2026 reached $21 million, accounting for about 62% of the total revenue of $34 million, surpassing Bitcoin mining revenue for the first time—this marks TeraWulf's first historic revenue structure reversal after transitioning to an AI/HPC infrastructure company, with a 117% increase from the $9.7 million HPC revenue in Q4 2025. The company has currently signed over 522 megawatts of AI/HPC leases with Core42 and Fluidstack, with an expected annual high-margin revenue of approximately $630 million; the energy structure consists of nuclear power + hydropower, with an average electricity cost of about $0.035 per kilowatt-hour, one of the lowest among similar mining companies. The company is also developing a new campus in Kentucky, adding approximately 480 megawatts of grid access capacity; analysts have significantly raised their target price ranges, with Keefe Bruyette & Woods raising from $23 to $37, Clear Street from $26 to $38, Jefferies initiating coverage with a Buy rating and a target price of $37, and BTIG raising at the same time. The company's stock price has increased by approximately 88% year-to-date in 2026, leading the gains in the mining sector.

According to Binance Research data, as of June 2026, the total value of RWA assets is approximately $31.7 billion, with the private credit sector experiencing the strongest monthly growth, adding about $883 million.The Binance Research report states that Centrifuge is driving a resurgence in the tokenization of private credit, with its $200 million JAAA issued on Solana demonstrating the feasibility of bringing institutional-grade assets on-chain.In addition, Binance launched bStocks, converting real U.S. stock holdings into tokens on the BNB Chain, supporting 24/7 on-chain trading. The report shows that 80% of tokenized stock trades come from emerging markets, with 93% of trades being fragmented, and the median trade size being $18.81.Binance Research expects that under the assumption of a 0.4% penetration rate, the market size for tokenized RWA could expand to $661 billion, representing approximately 62 times the current level of upside potential.

The Kobeissi Letter cited Bloomberg on platform X, stating, "American tech companies have committed to investing a record $850 billion in data center leasing over the next few years, an increase of $570 billion year-on-year, representing a growth rate of 204%, and a quarter-on-quarter increase of $200 billion, with a growth rate of 31%.It is reported that Meta added a commitment of $79 billion in the first quarter of 2026, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 76%, bringing the total commitment to approximately $183 billion. Microsoft added $41 billion during the same period, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 26%, with a total commitment of approximately $197 billion. Oracle leads with a total commitment of approximately $250 billion, having locked in several key sites to fulfill its contract with OpenAI."

According to monitoring by Lookonchain, Huang Licheng (@machibigbrother) has once again sold 3 Bored Ape NFTs, obtaining 27.42 ETH (44,000 USD), incurring a loss of 25 ETH (40,000 USD), to raise funds to increase his ETH long position.He currently holds a long position of 2,600 ETH (4.2 million USD), with a liquidation price of 1,596.69 USD.

The TRON Nile testnet has recently launched a quantum-resistant upgrade and released the mandatory upgrade version GreatVoyage-v4.8.2-PQ1-build1. This version introduces post-quantum signature capabilities for the first time, supporting two signature algorithms: Falcon-512 and ML-DSA-44, further advancing TRON's technological exploration and capability verification in the direction of quantum resistance.According to the official introduction, the aforementioned capabilities can be applied in scenarios such as transaction signing, SR block signing, P2P relay node handshakes, and TVM contract verification. TRON reminds developers who have deployed nodes on the Nile testnet to complete the version upgrade as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the related new features will only take effect on the Nile testnet after being approved through proposal voting; the activation of testnet functions does not mean that the mainnet will go live simultaneously.

According to Cointelegraph, Grant Cardone, the CEO of real estate investment company Cardone Capital, stated that Cardone Capital is increasing its Bitcoin holdings at the price level of $59,000, and currently holds more than 2,700 BTC.

According to Jinshi reports, as oil prices fell over 3% and the market reassessed the outlook for U.S. interest rates, U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar declined. The CME FedWatch Tool shows that the probability of a rate hike this year remains high at 42%, while the probability of a second rate hike has decreased from 34% a week ago to 28% as inflation expectations cool. A survey by The Wall Street Journal indicates that the University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index, scheduled to be released at 10 AM Eastern Time (10 PM Beijing Time), is expected to rise from 44.8 to 49.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, after being inactive for 1 month, a certain whale withdrew 1.6 million TRUMP from Binance, worth 2.7 million dollars. This whale currently holds 17 million TRUMP, worth 2.88 million dollars.

According to Jinshi reports, CME's "FedWatch" shows that the probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in July is 65.8%, while the probability of a cumulative rate hike of 25 basis points is 34.2%. By September, the probability of keeping interest rates unchanged drops to 33.6%, while the probability of a cumulative rate hike of 25 basis points rises to 49.7%, and the probability of a cumulative rate hike of 50 basis points is 16.7%.